Focusing on organizational theories, this classic sociology text examines various schools of thought within their historical and cultural contexts. It is engagingly written and includes numerous student-oriented examples, providing a critical perspective on how organizations influence individuals, groups, and society at large. The book serves as a comprehensive overview, making complex concepts accessible and relevant for readers.
Analyzes the social side of technological risk. This book argues that the conventional engineering approach to ensuring safety - building in more warnings and safeguards - fails because systems complexity makes failures inevitable. It asserts that typical precautions, by adding to complexity, may help create new categories of accidents.
The book explores the transformation of American society from family firms and decentralized power to large bureaucratic organizations by the end of the nineteenth century. Yale sociologist Charles Perrow argues against the notion that this shift was a natural outcome of technological progress and market efficiency. Instead, he highlights the critiques of corporate monopolies, political influence, environmental harm, and labor exploitation that arose during this period. The narrative examines how these changes challenged the nation's commitment to individual freedom and public goods.
Focusing on three causes of disaster - natural, organizational, and deliberate - this title shows that our best hope lies in the deconcentration of high-risk populations, corporate power, and critical infrastructures such as electric energy, computer systems, and the chemical and food industries.